Reward to be offered in fatal beating at Metro Blue Line station

Pedestrians wait for a Metro train to pass at the Willowbrook Station, where a 65-year-old man was fatally beaten in June. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Authorities are planning to announce a $10,000 reward Tuesday in the case of 65-year-old man who was fatally beaten at the Metro Blue Line station in Willowbrook.

John Wayne Whitmore was standing on the train platform on June 13 when two women approached him and got into a "brief verbal argument," according to the the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The argument between Whitmore and and the women escalated, and they "began beating him severely," authorities said in a statement.

Whitmore collapsed on the platform, and the attackers fled. He was taken to a hospital, where he died on June 20.

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An autopsy concluded that Whitmore died of a blunt trauma injury, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

Detectives said Whitmore was an artist, and was running errands when he was attacked.

The Sheriff's Department said the reward was approved by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas' office. The reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects will be announced Tuesday morning by authorities and members of Whitmore's family at a news conference at the department's Homicide Bureau in Commerce.

Anyone with information regarding the slaying is asked to call detectives at (323) 890-5500.